Part Two: A World at War

An ear-piercing ring racked my mind as my vision blurred and faded in and out. The pain was all I felt as I opened my mouth to scream, yet I was instantly choked by burning ash, which incinerated my throat and lungs. I gagged, coughed, and tried to scream as something grabbed me and yanked me back. Excruciating agony engulfed my senses as I was thrown to the ground and repeatedly beaten by something large and soft before suddenly being doused in frigid water.

I'm in hell. This is hell. I screamed internally. I've died and gone to hell for real this time. Oh God, please just let me die, please, please!

Once more, another round of frigid water was doused over me. The once-burning sensation across my body flared up, and I tried to scream. I couldn't tell if I was or not as the ringing ceased to stop.

Eventually, at some point, I must've blacked out.

I woke up sometime later. When the worst of the pain had passed, the ringing, while still present, was faint, allowing me to hear a bit around me as I opened my eyes and saw I was somewhere dark. The ground beneath me was hard and sturdy, yet it smelled heavily of mud. It seemed I was on a bedroll, and as I reached out to my side slowly, I felt the wetness of mud.

Is this a hole, am I buried? I wondered faintly as I tried to sit up but stopped as excruciating pain shot through me. I ceased all movement and laid back down. I panted softly, shifted a bit, and noticed something odd.

My head felt lighter. My hair wasn't getting in the way. I very carefully reached up with one hand to my face, and soon my head and I gasped softly. My long, dark hair was gone. Only faint bits of tufts and bald skin were all that was there.

Wh-what happened?

I recall my father talking and then shouting before suddenly I was burning. Now I'm here…

Are they okay? Who saved me?

I opened my mouth to speak, "Momma…" I faintly heard my voice as it came out in a hushed whisper. "Papa… Momma…!"

My voice went unheard for what seemed like minutes, and uneasiness began to build up within. Yet just before I fell into despair, something shifted out of the corner of my eye. Looking to the left, I saw what was actually a canvas tarp at the far reaches of my vision, shifting and revealing an entrance to the small burrow I was stuffed in. White sunlight sliced through the darkness and shone on my face, causing me to squint as I looked up at the pearly-white entrance.

That was soon silhouetted by a person's head. "Did I hear someone saying something?" An unfamiliar boy's voice called down to me.

"Momma…" I repeated it softly, my voice hoarse. "I want my Momma…"

"Ah, so you're finally awake!" The voice replied cheerfully. "Just stay down there; I'll go see if I can find your folks."

Yet before the voice could disappear, I sputtered out, "Wh-Who…"

"Who—? Oh, are you asking who I am?" The boy chuckled. "The name is Avdol, Avdol Hautchkins; now you rest up. "I'll be right back!"

Avdol Hautckins—that's Varis's friend. That also means the Hautckins made it out; at least I hope all of them did.

I didn't have to wait long before the flap to the burrow I was in flew open, and a familiar voice that sent relief over me said, "Oh, by the gods, I'm so happy you're alive!"

My mother crawled into the hole before suddenly a yellow light flashed as she said, "Shapen!" Suddenly, the earth around us began to shift and push outward, widening the space of the burrow by a couple of feet. After that, my mother's eyes flashed a bright blue as orbs of light fluttered out from her fingertips as she cast fireflies, allowing the two of us to see each other in this confined space.

My mother looked awful. Her short hair was disheveled and dirty, and her eyes were sunken and dark due to sleep deprivation. She wore a button-up shirt with a man's vest, which was slightly too large, both of which were torn, scuffed, and caked in what looked like mud and what I hoped wasn't blood. Below, I could see the khaki pants she had on was also ragged; overall, it looked like she had gone through hell and back.

Yet despite her sleep-deprived look, her eyes glistened as she leaned over me, smiling as tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Oh, my star, I was so worried I lost you." She sniffed. "I-I tried everything I could." She sighed and wiped her eyes. "I'm so happy it worked." She shook her head and caught her breath as she tried to compose herself. "H-How're you feeling?"

"Like shit…" I said I was not even trying to censor myself.

Despite my use of vulgar language, my mother simply snorted and smiled. "I-I guess I should've seen that coming."

She cleared her throat and held a hand out to my chest as she closed her eyes and muttered a soft incantation before ending with, "Resilience." A green flash shot into my chest, and a soothing radiance washed over me.

The pain I felt instantly faded, though not disappearing completely, but enough that I could start to move without breaking into tears.

"This should help," Mother said softly.

"Th-thank you…" I said it hoarsely. "D-Do you have… water?"

Momma nodded and reached to her side, where a few bags were clipped to her belt, and pulled out a canteen. She scooched a bit closer to me and helped me raise my head as she brought the cold rim to my lips after uncapping it. Carefully, she tipped the canteen, allowing the water to pour into my mouth as I hungrily gulped it down.

The sensation was heavenly. I never knew water could taste so good, as I must've gulped down at least half of what she had before my mother finally pulled away. I gasped softly and sighed as she laid me back down on the bedroll.

I closed my eyes briefly and savored the moment before asking, "Where are we?" My voice is still carrying a slight rasp.

Mother's face slackened a bit, and she took a deep breath. "We're in the Rossrood Forest, four days out from Oren by foot."

Four days? I thought and looked at my mother.

"How long was I out for?" I asked softly.

Which she confirmed. "Four days. We were hit by one of the rockets launched from the airships; my bubble protected us from most of the shrapnel, yet the shockwave and fire destroyed the wagon." Mother began to shake as she recalled the memory. "I was thrown away from you and watched as the burning wreckage fell over you. I-If it wasn't for that boy Peter Isa brought to our house, I don't know if we would've saved you in time."

I smiled. "It's okay, Momma. I'm okay." My mother sniffed and nodded as she wiped her eyes and leaned in to give me a very, very careful hug. Which I gladly returned.

Once things settled down a bit and Momma pulled away from me, I croaked out, "I noticed my hair is all messy and gone."

To which my mother deflated a little and nodded. "I was able to heal most of your injuries, though unfortunately, my magic can't restore hair. Though Doctor Kegan said it should grow back, thankfully."

Who?

"Doctor Kegan?" I blinked.

"A nice gentleman we found on the road. A lot has happened these past four days, Luna." Mother gripped her pants legs tight. "A lot of things. We met up with Mr. Hautckins and the Olsons; thankfully, they were able to get away like we did, though Mr. Hautckins wife is very hurt along with one of Olson's children."

"What about our family?" I asked.

Mother turned to me and smiled. "All is accounted for. Most of us took a few scrapes and bumps, and your father broke his hand."

I cringed at how casually she said that.

"Though I was able to patch them up." Mother smiled. "Everyone is currently safe and working to get us moving."

So I'm the only one who got horribly injured. I'm slowing them down. I sighed.

Mother gently reached down and ran her hand across my cheek. "Don't worry, Luna. Give it another day, and we'll be on the road."

"We don't have time for another day," I said softly. "You heard, Peter. My dream… those monsters will be on us." I looked her in the eye.

We stared at each other, and I could see the conflict in Mother's eyes. "I know, dear, but you aren't well enough to move yet. My magic can only do so much."

"Do we have a wagon?" I asked her. "I can be put on—"

She shook her head. "No. We lost our wagon, and the only one we have is for supplies and the elders."

"Elders?"

Mother sighed. "It's an exodus, Luna. As I said, a lot has happened. Where we are, there's a lot of people outside, people that I, your father, and soldiers are protecting."

"But we need to reach the city, my dream."

Mother nodded. "I'm aware, Luna, but you're hurt. And I don't want to risk taking you out there like this."

But they'll find us. It'll be like that horrible dream I had if we don't go!

Mother closed her eyes and said, "Luna, just please. Trust me. Unlike that dream of yours, you're not alone. So please, just get some rest."

She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small leather pouch. "I brought some narcolis berries collected by the good doctor. He said these will help put you to sleep if you have trouble resting. Eat only two."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Great, they're drugging me now. I huffed.

"Please, Luna," Mother said, noticing my frustration.

I sighed. I'd rather die being comatose than awake. So why not?

I opened my mouth so that my mother could place two berries on my tongue. I chewed the berries and was surprised by the powerful flavor as each juicy ball popped into my mouth like a very ripe blueberry. As I swallowed and drank some water Momma gave me, I sighed.

"Do you not believe my dreams, Momma?" I asked softly as I waited for the effects of the berries to kick in.

My mother hesitated before saying, "I don't entirely believe one can accurately predict the future. So in a sense, I don't." She looked at me. "However, what I do believe in is educated guesses. Yet even then, it's still a guess and not set in stone. What I am concerned with, however, is why you had such a dream; how did you know Rusimia would deploy mechanical monsters? Like the one's that attacked Peter and his troop?"

I weakly shrugged. "I don't know." I looked up at the burrow's ceiling. "I never chose to have weird dreams." I took a deep breath. "The gods are real, right, Momma?"

This question sent her back a bit, and she blinked. "Y-Yes, they are! Why would you ask that?" She sounded slightly offended.

I looked at her once more. "Could it be someone is trying to communicate with me?"

It wouldn't be entirely out there, I guess. It's not every day a little villager girl just suddenly starts having visions, and thank God I'm not being strung up and called a witch in this world. Yet the question next would be, why? Why would another being of power share these visions with me?

Mother sighed softly. "The gods have been quiet for a long time." She shifted around so that her rear was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"What do you mean?" I mumbled, my eyes starting to feel heavy already.

"After the Twilight War, they simply went quiet." She shrugged. "When the Dark Lord was imprisoned, we Enorans were given one final order. Keep him contained. They then left. As on the physical planet, the gods are still present and watching, and rarely miracles happen."

"Why would they leave us alone?" I asked.

Mother shrugged. "I don't know, sweetie; unfortunately, Momma isn't a cleric or priestess. As I told you once about the Intrusive War, the majority of gods don't see a reason to interfere with us. Maybe they simply wanted to plant the seeds of life and watch us."

"Like ants in a terrarium." I said it bluntly.

My mother glared at me. "Well, when you put it like that, it sounds crude."

Too tired to apologize I yawned and said, "Isn't it, though? Imagine birthing Varis and me and simply watching us do our thing. Never stepping in when we need it just to see how things play out. If the gods truly cared, maybe they would've stepped in—"

"Luna, please." Mother said softly. "Get some rest." She turned and began to crawl out of the burrow, taking her fireflies with her and leaving me alone in the dank darkness.

Before I could comprehend anything, my eyes drooped one last time, and I fell asleep.

----------------------------------------

I woke up to a blinding white light and winced as I shielded my face and groaned. "What the fuck?" I hissed and sat up.

After a few moments, I opened them once more and glanced around confusedly, as all I saw around me was not a bright white light but a white void. An endless expanse.

Is this the matrix? I pinched my cheek and yelped, as the pain was very real.

"Oh?" A feminine voice came from behind me.

I froze up and slowly turned to look back. Behind me, the white void continued, yet directly in the center of my line of sight were a table and some chairs. Sitting behind this table was a pale-skinned woman in a white tuxedo with silver hair and mismatched eyes. Her right eye was deep blue, and her left eye was crimson.

When my eyes met hers, the woman smiled like a predator seeing its prey. Her sharp canines poked slightly out as she leaned against the white marble top table and said, "Well, this is embarrassing."

"Wh-where am I?" I stuttered out.

The person smiled at me, yet unlike the Man in Black, she straightened up and stepped around the table—

Wait, the Man in Black? I can remember him!

"Yes. His influence holds little sway over Father's domain."

My head jerked up to look at her.

Don't tell me she can read—

"I can, in fact, see and hear all your thoughts."

I gulped and nodded as I looked her over as she came into view. She was tall, a little bit taller than my mother, and had a lovely hourglass shape, which enhanced the suit, not to mention her bust—

"Continue with that train of thought, little one, and I'll surely have that filthy mind of yours wiped clean."

Okay, I'll stop.

"Now I believe you asked where you were?" She thought and tapped her chin. "Well, you're somewhere you aren't supposed to be—at least part of you."

"What the fuck does—"

"Language dear, Father does not appreciate hearing such foul words." The sharp-toothed woman snipped as she side-eyed me.

"Sorry, what does that mean?"

"Exactly as I worded it. But if you want a more definitive answer, The Liminal Void. This is one of my favorite rooms. The Silent Dream. Excellent when you want to do a ton of writing in peace."

"What the fu-heck, you telling me I'm in the goddam-darn backrooms? You're messing with me! I'm definitely dreaming." I smacked myself in the face and instantly regretted it.

The woman chuckled. "Your kind had the right idea, but not exactly."

"What do you mean by that?" I said it bluntly.

"Humanity. Who else would I be referring to?"

My stomach dropped, and my heart went with it. "Who are you? Do you know him?"

The woman turned to me fully, and her smile widened even further to the point of almost feeling uncanny. "By him, you mean the one you called the Man in Black?" She cocked her head back and looked down at me. "We are aware of him, yes." She lowered her head back down. "As to who I am, I am Charity."

"How do you know about me?" I asked her.

Charity began to step towards me, and I shifted and got to my feet to back away. "We know much about you, Luna; that's what you like to be called now, is it? Or would you prefer, Mister—?"

"Luna is fine! I like Luna; my old name is a dead name." I said, holding my hands up.

The woman stopped just a couple of feet from me. "Luna it is, then. As said, we know much about you—who you are, who you were, who you were before that, and who you truly are."

"What do you… mean by that?" I gulped.

"Exactly as it sounds. We have tracked your soul through the current many times. We were going to try and introduce ourselves much later down the line, but… it seems you somehow came to us instead prematurely." She chuckled.

"You've been watching me?"

"For a long time."

"Why?"

Charity smirked and got down on one knee before me. "This may sound silly, but it's because you're special."

I held a hand up to her. "Okay, hold on. No. The last guy who said that to me is also wiping my memories for shits and giggles.'

"Language."

"Oh, don't even start—" I tried to retort, yet suddenly my lips clamped shut, and a zipper went across my face, silencing me. I screamed and fell to the ground, clutching at my face.

"I warned you, Dearie, that our Father does not appreciate young girls who say such foul things in his presence." With a flick of her wrist, the zipper came undone, freeing my mouth, and I clamped my hands over my lips.

"Sorry!" I sat up and pushed myself away from her before standing up.

"But I was not lying, Luna. You are special to us, all of us."

"What makes me so special?" I asked nervously and very carefully, picking my words.

"It's your soul." She smiled. "It's your soul that would allow us to free the world from the evil of the one you know as the man in black. Or, as the others say, The Dark Lord."

"I had a hunch that's who he was," I muttered softly.

"So he's truly a bad guy, isn't he?" I said it with a fake chuckle. "So why does he have an interest in me?"

"He's interested in you because he's aware of your soul, which contains a significant source of energy. Energy that could be used to thwart Father's plans."

"Plans for what? Who's this Father guy—"

"He's our father."

I don't like the implications of that.

"There's nothing to fear. He's a father who is a loving and caring individual. He wishes to help the world of Enora. Yet it's because of the Dark Lord's tampering that our father's goals have been disrupted.

"What does… our father want to help us with?' I asked nervously.

"To bring an end to pain and suffering, to rid the world of death, and finally to cease all wanton violence."

I nodded my head slowly as I listened to her, and after taking a deep breath, I continued nodding. "Oh, so just like, typical world peace stuff?" I clarified, and she simply smiled at me. "You know, back in my old life. I worked in IT, and in IT, we learned a lot about things like scammers and such. And well, that's like snake oil folk, y'know? And well, they taught us in security training that, If you get an email or something from someone promising crazy stuff that seems impossible… it's probably a scam."

"Are you calling me a snake oil salesman?"

"Essentially. Don't get me wrong, world peace, no death—all that sounds nice. But like, if you're gods, why haven't you just..." I snapped my finger and said, "Done it."

"Well, I told you, the individual you know as the Man in Black is halting us."

"But he's like in prison. What's a man in prison going to do to you guys?"

She simply stared at me as if we had completely gone off script.

"Apologies if I'm coming off as rude, but I've had a crazy new year so far. A few months ago, I encountered a literal god of evil who told me we're going to save the world and wiped away my memories anyway. I almost got eaten by wolves made of timber and leaves twice! Oh, I forgot the nightmare I had about waking up from a coma, and then my home just got blown up; I almost died again, and now I'm having premonitions of the future, I think from literally Sauron. So forgive me if I'm going to have trust issues with you."

Charity stood there watching me with unblinking eyes, and after a moment, she closed them and nodded. "That indeed sounds like a rough time, and something we are hoping to rid the world of. Father would love to just 'do it' as you put it so bluntly, yet unfortunately, there are roadblocks, as you'd say, preventing us."

"How many of you guys are there? You keep saying, 'we', do you mean just you and… our father?"

She crossed her arms. "There are many of us, for we are everything. You just haven't seen it yet."

"What?"

"Within time, you'll understand. For what was, shall be; what shall be, was."

My eyes narrowed, and I wagged my finger at her. "It's phrases like that that make me not want to trust you godlike beings."

"I am no god." Charity corrected.

"You know what I mean." I looked around. "So, like, let's roll it back. You say I'm not supposed to be here; can I go? Or, like, can you put me in a lucid dream?"

"I could, but let me inform you of something that'll deeply upset you." She said it bluntly.

I gritted my teeth and sighed. "At least you're warning me it's bad news."

"While the Dark Lord's influence is nonexistent here, once you return to the waking world, his curse will resume its control. Wiping all memory of him and this conversation."

"Wait, what? Really?!" I groaned. "Why am I going to forget this? Can't you dispel it?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, my power does not go so far. Not at this current moment. The antimemetic curse he has on you wipes out any instance in which you recall him or he is mentioned."

I threw my arms up and turned away from her. "So the second I remembered him and acknowledged it, I fucked myself."

"Language."

"Sorry." I crossed my arms.

"But you are correct. Though if you wish to go, I'll not keep you, Luna. I must warn you: do not listen to him. He will lie, cheat, and do anything in his power to get you to do what he wishes. You have seen how secretive he is—what he keeps from you and refuses to answer. It's because if you knew what he wanted you to do, you'd turn on him."

"And what is that exactly?"

"I told you already. He wishes to try and stop our return."

I raised an eyebrow. "Your return?"

"Yes." She said it quickly. "If you encounter him again, you'll remember my words, Luna Ashflow. I apologize that this must be a lot, and I understand how you must feel like a pawn in all of this. But do not give into him, reject his offers, and ignore his threats."

I gulped. Something doesn't feel right about this.

She continued, "We may meet again in the land of dreams. It is only natural for our minds to glimpse the liminal space within the void. Come then, we can discuss more on the subject."

The sound of creaking wood and groaning hinges behind me jolted me out of my skin, and I spun around to see a door standing ominously amid the void.

"Steping through that door, you'll return to the realm of dreams. It has been a pleasure to meet you, Luna, even if it was preemptive."

Cautiously, I stepped towards the door, constantly turning my head from it back to her. My throat felt awfully dry as I took a deep breath, and with a shaky hand, I reached for the door and opened it, revealing a contrastingly endless, dark expanse.

"Wh-what the hell—GYAH!" I screamed as something pushed me from behind, and I fell into darkness.

I screamed as I rolled off of my bedroll and onto the damp, dark floor beneath me. I gasped and panted as I shifted a bit and sprawled my limbs out as I caught my breath. "Fucking hate dreams when I'm falling… what was I even dreaming about again? Pretty girls in suits?" I smirked. "Seven years in, and I'm still degenerate. Those sleep berries must've done something to trigger that." I thudded my head against the dirt and glanced up at the tarp covering my hole. "I should go see what's happening out there," I muttered softly and began to try and stand up. With some difficulty, I was able to push myself to my knees, and as my sore muscles loosened up, I finally began to climb my way up and out.